Saturday, May 30, 2015

It is a SUPER busy (but AMAZING) weekend over here, but I couldn't leave y'all hanging (don't worry, all of the recaps will hopefully be up next week)... In the meantime, it's time for another SHARINGSATURDAY!

This time I am giving away a SPIbelt. Feel free to check out my original review and post here to get more deets about the product (if you haven't noticed, I normally rock them for most races and bike rides so I can hold my phone, keys, etc).

Just a few of the MANY pictures...
I normally rock an original on my bike rides and an endurance (with bib holder) during races.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I saw a promo SPIbelt was having. If you posted a video to their Facebook page of you kneeling on a workout ball, unassisted, for 10 seconds they'd send you a free SPIbelt. Uh, sign me up! Well, I did it and got my SPIbelt, but then was thinking... maybe I should SPREAD THE WEALTH... Hence, why it is up for grabs in this week's Sharing Saturday post!

This giveaway is for an Original SPIbelt. It is the black with turquoise zipper (I think it works for both a male or a female, so everyone should enter this one!).

a Rafflecopter giveawayEnter early and often (some of the entries are available DAILY). I did want to mention, this giveaway is NOT sponsored or affiliated with SPIbelt in any way... I am just sharing my freebie with YOU! It will run through Friday, June 5th at 11:59pm PST. I will contact the winner via email (using the email address listed through Rafflecopter) who will have 24 hours to respond and claim their prize. Also, the entries ARE verified, so please make sure you complete the task or I'll have to pick a new random winner.

I took my first ever spinning class! CRAY-CRAY, right?! I had gotten an email from the local Yelp a while back about some fitness class options.

It was stoked, so that evening (or maybe a day or two later) I went to RSVP... AND ALL THE SPOTS WERE TAKEN - BUMMERUSKI! I saw the sweet Smitha posting about how she had signed up for a couple classes through the #YelpFitClub2015 so I mentioned how I was jealous that I didn't get in.

The amazing Kristin, StuftMama, was teaching a few of those classes, so I was extra bummed... Much to my surprise (but just a testament to how cool my friends are) Smitha invited me along for one of the classes (and Kristin was kind enough to offer me a guest pass to check out the gym). Remember, I said I have NEVER taken a spin class before, but I am allaboutstepping trying to step outside of my comfort zone (and it was a free class with a friend AND A FRIEND AS THE TEACHER which doesn't hurt) so I just HAD to, right?!

So yesterday afternoon I grabbed my water, a bit of fuel for afterwards, a SMILE (because I never leave home without it and that's what Kristin was sure to tell us to bring :)), and jumped in the car to head to Fit Athletic Club in Carmel Mountain.

It took about 45 minutes to get there (due to traffic), but the drive wasn't bad at all. I pulled into a parking spot and not 2 minutes later Smitha pulled in right next to me. We were both a bit nervous (since this would be both of our first spin class EVER), but had a little more confidence because we weren't doing it alone.

Once we got into the gym Smitha was able to check in and Patrick signed me up for a guest pass and showed me around the facilities (Talk about SNAZZY! If only I lived closer and wasn't such a cheapskate I might take them up on joining :)). I grabbed a quick locker room mirror selfie and we made our way over to the Spin classroom.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure I "bike" once a week, but it is on a hybrid beach cruiser (meaning my cruiser has 7 gears) so I wouldn't exactly consider it a BIKE bike. Also, I have never taken a fitness "class" before (unless you count the Yoga for Runners Workshop I took a couple weeks ago or the Athleta Yoga Event I attended a while back - but neither of which were at a gym).

Kristin showed up and calmed our nerves a little bit - hugs all around. But that didn't last long, we were there to get down to business! And that is exactly what we did :)

I guess it is GO time...

Thankfully my Shwings fit in the shoe holsters on the peddles ;)

Pre-class selfie... LET'S DO THIS!

My "holy crap, what did I get myself into" face

The class was an hour long. It had sprints, hills, standing, sitting, you name it, we did it! Kristin is such a great teacher (and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend)! She really talked us though everything we needed to do and was super encouraging (in a butt-kickin' sort of way).

At one point I looked over at Smitha and said, "THIS IS HARD". She concurred and said, "Running is so much easier". THEN IT HIT ME! I wonder if running should be this hard... I mean, follow with me for a minute, what if I have been running "in my comfort zone" for all this time?! To get stronger, better, faster, I should probably walk away from a workout or two thinking "THIS IS HARD", right?!

Anyway, the class was tough, but great! We finished extra sweaty (thank goodness for gym towels), but with BIG smiles on our faces. Not only did we try something new, but we KICKED ITS BOOTY (or at least we didn't fall off the bikes or get hurt)!

Sweaty selfies are the best, right?! HA!

And yes, there were others in the class (probably about 10 total), but we "staged"this shot after everyone left ;)

Afterwards Kristin wanted to show us around the gym and have us try out a few of the machines that she loved. First up, Jacobs Ladder! I was pretty nervous to give it a go, but Kristin showed us the ropes on it first and promised it would stop at the bottom if anything happened.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but definitely is a work out!Not to mention, with nothing to look at I don't know how long I'd last on it.

The other "cool" machines were all being used, so we decided to look at them from afar, take a couple pictures, and obviously chat a little more.

We needed a selfie in front of Jacobs Ladder - DUH!

I've got some lovely ladies as friends, #AmIRightOrAmIRight?!

And then it was time to part ways. BOO! Thankfully we will all be seeing each other again on Saturday for the Pro Compression Shake Out Run (PS If you are in town, come on by!) so I guess I can't be too sad.

On the ride home I busted into my PROBAR BITE bar. I don't know if I was just famished from the workout or what, but the Superfruits & Greens flavor (I hadn't tried it before) was DELICIOUS! I scarfed that baby down so fast I almost forgot to snap a picture!

Don't worry, I was stopped at a traffic light while taking this picture

Oh yeah, how could I almost forget?! Smitha is DA BOMB and brought me PRESENTS! I wanted to go to the Rock N Roll San Diego Meet-Up a while back but Ryan and I were camping in Malibu so I missed it. Smitha was sweet enough to grab me one of the tanks for the event though. Also, she got me this FABULOUS "Be The Change" Sevenly tank (as a gift for being a "big time blogger" and buying my own domain!). HOW AMAZINGLY AWESOME IS THAT?!

I guess the moral of the story is - step outside of your comfort zone, and while you are at it, take a couple friends along for the ride!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

It's that time of the week again - time to link up with the AMAZINGSmitha and FABULOUSLinzie for another edition of Thursday Triumph. LOVE that you all are joining in on the fun! Thanks in advance for linking up with the three of us!

Wanna know what is EXTRAEXCITING?! The three of us will see each other this weekend! Yup - the brains behind Thursday Triumph (more them, I am just along for the ride) will be meeting up during this Rock N Roll San Diego weekend!

PS There are TONS of events going on, so check out Pavement Runner's recent post so you don't miss out on any of the fun. And just a reminder, you do NOT need to be running in any of the races to come to the shake-out run, meet-ups, etc. If you are in the area, make sure to stop by, take some selfies, and have a GREAT time!

Okay, okay, enough about this weekend (if you can't tell, I'm SUPER STOKED!), it's time for the main event...

Today's Triumph: Healthy Choices

Normally having to go grocery shopping AFTER work does not tend to lead to the best decisions on my part (Am I the only one?! I swear, going to the grocery store with an empty stomach leads me to buy #AllTheJunk.), but today was different!

I walked out of there with tons of fresh fruits and veggies. Also, look at what I had for the car ride home:

I know, I know, dried fruit is NOT the same as fresh fruit, but it is delicious and convenient so I went for it. One step at a time, right?!

Now that does NOT mean I didn't buy that bag of chips (#KeepingItReal), because I did... But it does mean that I didn't bust into them on the ride home! I mean, the point of this series is to celebrate the victories no matter how small (or insignificant) they may seem! Don't worry, I'll just consider the chips as carb loading... for whatever life throws at me when I get the urge to splurge.

Baby steps...

By the way, I don't know if you follow Linzie's blog on the regular (if not, get with the program peeps ;)), but he is putting me to shame with his healthy choices! He's got this #StrongerSharpie thing going on and is definitely putting in the work. He posted a delicious looking recipe on yesterday's blog, so make sure to check it out so you can ROCK the BELL(s)!

Here are all the RULES you need to know to participate in the Thursday Triumph LinkUp! 1. Linzie, Smitha and I will start the LinkUp Post every Wednesday night by 11:59 EST. It will be hosted here, on Sharp Endurance and on Running With SD Mom. You can link up your posts any day of the week but the most common day to do so is Thursday. The post can be about any TRIUMPH in your life! Each linkup will be open for one week only. 2. Entries that are not associated with a POST or just linked to your homepage will be deleted. 3. Link back to Running With SD Mom, Sharp Endurance & Carlee McDot so others can add their link and find others too! You can use the above graphic if you'd like! 4. MOST IMPORTANT: You MUST visit the person's blog who linked up directly before you and leave them a motivating comment and share their POST. This is the most important part of the linkup. We want lots of links and we want to help each other out. This is MANDATORY! 5. Void where prohibited.

Before I get ahead of myself, and in case you are new around the CarleeMcDot.com parts, this is another post in a series of tips from Jeff Galloway (yes, I was lucky enough to be asked to be a part of the network of bloggers to work with him and disperse his tips and suggestions into the blog-osphere).

First off, I just posted about how ABSOLUTELYAMAZING the running community is a few short days ago (check out my post about "The Community" or Pavement Runner's post about #WeRunSocial if you haven't already... and by the way, JOINTHEMOVEMENT!).

Next, hubby and I have been long admirers of Steve Prefontaine (I think for me it started back in high school when I hung out with all the cross country kids). My running the Eugene Marathon a few weeks ago helped to renew that respect (not to mention all of the articles and books I read leading up to the trip and the handful of movies Ryan and I watched :)). Anywho, did you know the awesome Jeff Galloway ran with Pre?! He references that relationship in today's post, so what's NOT to love?!

THE POWER OF THE GROUP

The fun of running with a group pulled me into the sport 57 years ago. Running and training with my friends Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, brought out the best of running in me—while we became good friends, and Olympians. As I travel the US this season, for our Galloway training program kickoffs, I see the same fun, support and friendship development. Here are the ways I’ve observed runners of all abilities improve more and have more fun when in the right group.1. Great friendships2. The miles go by quicker—telling stories, sharing life experiences3. Guidance in running with the right group for you, with the appropriate run walk run strategy4. Because the group is waiting for you, you will stay motivated and get out there more often5. You’ll learn about some interesting races, places to run, fun running experiences6. On the really tough workouts and races, the group will pull you through7. Access to tools for management of nutrition, fluids, motivation, aches/pains8. The right group leadership can fine-tune the pace of each workout, avoiding injury/exhaustion9. Helping others who are struggling bestows an amazing sense of achievement10. Sharing the empowerment of finishing a long run can change your lifeMost groups, like our Galloway programs allow runners to try them out for free. Together we can celebrate fitness and inspire others to improve the quality of their lives.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

If you follow me on Instagram (@CarleeMcDot) or noticed my thigh in pictures from yesterday's Vista Strawberry Festival 10K Race Recap pictures (in a non-creepy way of course), then this isn't breaking news to you, but for the rest of you, I thought I'd make a formal announcement ;)

I got my tenth tattoo on Friday!

Yup... TENTH... I guess you can say they are a little addicting ;) But honestly, the hubby and I normally use them as Christmas, birthday, or anniversary gifts to each other / ourselves. It is like art that you will keep with you forever.

I had an appointment at American Tattoo in Bonsall (where Ryan and I have been going for the past 7 or so years) Friday afternoon. I ended up having to wake up before the buttcrack of dawn so I could get my 10-miler in BEFORE work, since I knew I wouldn't have time to get in a run after work and still make it to my appointment on time.

I had been wanting another tattoo since I got my last (but isn't that how it always is?!), but decided to finally pop on it! I was thinking an anchor (our tattooist, Sam Phillips, is an amazing traditional artist, so I knew it would be right up his alley) and possibly some roses. Unfortunately (for my tattoo) my leg isn't that big, so I had to cut the big flowers out because they would have started wrapping around the back of my leg. (No biggie, I have already decided one of my arms will turn into a floral half sleeve, so I can save my flowers for that ;))

I gave Sam a couple ideas of what I wanted and he got to drawing. I LOVE what he came up with. I showed him a picture I was digging the colors of (bright aquas and pinks), but wasn't sure if the color would pop as much on my darker skin (What can I say?! The sun loves me ;)). He said he would definitely work with the brighter colors and we would see how it looks.

We got started and I knew this wasn't going to be one of the more painful tattoos in my collection (Praise The Lord!). It was a bit more tender when we got closer to the top of my knee, but nothing too crazy.

Obviously the more shading and coloring we did the more raw the skin got (please excuse the blood, but you gotta expect it when you are getting a needle jammed in you over and over, right?!).

In total, I think it was probably about an hour and a half (definitely much shorter than the 5+ hour sitting I did for the cherry blossom tree on my back).

I LOVE IT! I think it might be my favorite one yet (but I may or may not say that after each one I get ;)). I know it has only been a few days since getting it, but the healing process this time around seems to be easy-peasy!

Monday, May 25, 2015

Yesterday morning Ryan and I ran the Vista Strawberry Festival 10K. Can you believe it? This is the FOURTHYEAR I have run in this race! It was one of my very first races in 2012 when I started running (I consider the Disneyland Half in 2012 my "anniversary race" because it was my first "distance" race, but I did do a couple 5Ks prior to that and THIS was one of them). I have been lucky enough to run it with my hubby every single time!

Quick preface I need to notate - Ryan and I were given these bibs from the good people over at the Vista Chamber of Commerce. Having said this, our opinions are still 100% ours and honest (ain't nobody got time for fibbin' around here!).

I wasn't sure what I wanted to wear for the race. I was thinking I wanted to go strawberry themed, but thought red and green might come across as Christmas-y. I still had a couple plain tanks that I used for Ragnar, so I figured I'd try and doll them up a bit for the race. Thankfully I still had some of the iron-on letters I used for my Eugene Marathon tank that I thought would work perfectly. (I was limited on my letter choice though, so I had to work with that I had and figure out a saying from there.)

I might not be "crafty", but I can hold my own when it comes to a hot glue gun.

They held packet pick-up on Saturday from 1-4. I had to work from 12-4, so we figured we would just grab our bibs and goodies before the race on Sunday morning (I do appreciate race day pick-up!). We ended up leaving out place around 5:50am. The race started at 6:45, it takes us about 15 minutes to get over, and because there was no gear-check we would have to walk our goodies to the car and then get back to the start line before the race began.

Early to bed and early to rise...

Well, when we left Oceanside it was a bit cloudy (which is what the weather man was calling for), but the closer we got to Vista, the wetter my windshield got... WHAT THE CRAP IS UP WITH THAT?! There was no rain in the forecast... So what is this wetness falling from the sky?!

Packet pick-up was pain-free, although they didn't have near enough volunteers so the lines started getting pretty long. I don't know if some volunteers didn't come out due to the weather or they just weren't expecting the number of runners to wait until race-day to pick up their stuff, but I would suggest more for the future.

Bibs - CHECK! Goodie bags - CHECK!

We jogged over to the car, attached our bibs, dropped off our outer ware, and made our way back to the starting area. The course was different than year's past, so I think signs would have definitely been helpful (will talk more about this when it comes to the beer garden as well...). Downtown Vista holds a big street fair for the Strawberry Festival, so the streets are lined with vendors, so just because there are people heading in one direction it does NOT mean that is the way to the start... #LessonLearned

Setting up the starting line

Although the race was supposed to start at 6:45am, I think it was probably closer to 6:50am or so when it actually kicked off. I was surprised at how few people were running this race. Sure there is a pretty brutal hill around mile 3 of the 10K, but I guess personally I find 10Ks easier than 5Ks (less all out sprinting), so figured this would be the more popular race of the morning. With the small crowds there was no reason for corrals, we all just sort of milled about until the National Anthem and then turned around for the start. (I do think that if the race grows larger in the future there may be a need for corrals with the streets being lined with vendors and pretty tight through the starting area.)

I was BERRY excited for this shot!

Runners turned away from the starting line to face the flag

Even if there was rain, at least there was no wind
(as you can tell from the flag ;) )

Alrighty, it's almost GO TIME!

But first, let's take a selfie...

On your mark, get set....

3... 2... 1.... GO!

And we were off! As I mentioned earlier, I was running this race with the hubby, so we were going to stick with his pace. He said he was hoping to run it in around 10:15/mile pace. I told him I might stop a couple times to grab pictures, but I'd catch up to him. I would rather run with the hubby and give up any type of time goal ANY DAY (although I did look at the leader board after the race and if I would have been "racing" I would have taken second in my age group...).

Much of the course seemed to be a gradual slope...

Like I said at the beginning, this course was different than prior years (I am not sure if it was due to the road construction or what the reasoning was). Ryan said he liked it more this year (it seemed like the frequent turns were towards the beginning, which he appreciated and then had more of a straight shot to the end instead of it being flopped in previous races). The emails and website touted that it was a certified course, so I was expecting it to be "legit". We could all tell (at least those running around us) after the first mile that this was NOT the case.

We hit mile 1 (on our watches or trackers) and no mile markers in sight... It seemed as though there were NO signs or even volunteers to tell us where to turn on the first street (there was a little out and back portion at the beginning) so I don't know if the lead biker went too far or maybe the front pack got too far away from the next group and they didn't know when to flip around or what... Well, from them on it seemed as though the course was at least .4 mile long. (For me, this wasn't a huge deal since I was just doing it for fun with the hubby, but I know it seemed to make some runners around us pretty upset.)

Ryan was doing great with keeping his pace (even with the sprinkles and high humidity {at times it felt like the humidity was radiating up from the wet ground, it was pretty gross}). The first mile was just under ten minutes (I normally have a heck of a time trying to keep my pace at the beginning of a race because of my fresh legs, adrenaline, etc) which was right where we wanted to be! Even with the course being a bit different, we knew we had a MONDO hill around mile 3, so we wanted to conserve some energy for that (if you know the area, we end up running UP through Brengal Terrace). I reminded Ry that we EAT HILLS FOR BREAKFAST so were going to run the whole thing!

I wish there was a GROSS-ness index... It would have
been PRETTY DARN HIGH at this point...

Going up, up, up!

We saw the hill and CONQUERED it! Ryan told me I could run ahead so I could get a couple pictures, so that's what I did. I know the hill might not look that crazy, but it is a pretty constant uphill for at least a half mile, which can get to even the stronger runners.

Ryan powering up the hill!

You think it's done, but you have to turn and keep climbing...

Don't get me wrong, I MUCH APPRECIATE all of the volunteers (if you've ever run with me or even near me, you will know I try and thank every one of them that I can - not to mention give out as many high fives as possible), but the water stations were BAD this year (at least in my opinion). This has NOTHING to do with the folks staffing them - they were great! It has everything to do with LOCATION.

There were two water stops on the course. One right after the big portion of the Brengal Terrace hill (I think this is a BAD idea because first, people are struggling to even catch their breath at this point so they have a hard time drinking and second, they start gulping the water down - drinking more than they should and with lots of air). The second one was actually in the middle of another hill. I realize when you are running a hilly course it is hard to place aid stations, but having to "stop" for water in the middle of an uphill really hurts your momentum. (Just something to think about for future years.)

Ryan powering up more of that darn Brengal Terrace hill
and I was rousing the volunteers to smile for me ;)

The course isn't super beautiful - most of it is on roads (some of which are closed completely and some you are running in the bike lane or far right lane), but there is a portion through the park which I love. (At one point there was a rouge car driving on the course, but the volunteers tried to stop that right away - thanks guys for keeping us safe!) Running through the trees makes me feel like I could someday be a trail runner (but my fear of snakes and lack of decent balance tells me otherwise).

Look at that strong runner!

I was even able to keep Ryan smiling through the majority of the race (he has been known to tell me to "stop talking" towards the end of races so he can focus). I think I will consider that a win in my book!

I really need to take some "mid-run selfie" lessons
from Dani... Maybe this weekend at the RnRSD I will
take a class or two from her ;)

I looked at my watch when we hit the 6.2 mile mark (a "normal" 10K distance) and we were at 1:02:40 - just about where Ryan wanted to be! My Garmin ended up having us at 6.62 miles when we finished, so the last half mile or so took us about 4 minutes. When we were crossing the finish line I heard the announcer say something like "Give these folks a big round of applause, they just ran an extra half mile with this morning's 10K" so it sounds like they were well aware of the issue (not to mention the results had a note about it as well).

Ryan wanted to "walk it out" a bit after we sprinted across the finish, so while he was walking I took a quick selfie with my medal and the finish line.

I found Ry and we went to collect our water, strawberries, banana, and chocolate milk... And MORE PICTURES! Come on now, if you don't record it via pictures it's like it didn't happen, right?!

After we hydrated a bit, it was time to get Ryan his FREE BEER (I don't drink beer {I think it tastes like pee, if I were to have ever tasted it before, which I HAVENOT!}, so Ryan lucks out and normally gets two beers after races since I give him mine). The last couple years the beer garden has been right next to the finish line. This year we had to ask about 5 people how to get there. It was sort of like they didn't want you getting your free beer. I think something like chalk on the ground or signage would have been very helpful! We got over to the beer area (after about 20 minutes of wandering), but they weren't starting to pour until 8:30am (yes, I know it seems super early, but the race started before 7 so people wanted their free beers ;)). In the meantime we took some berry pictures and tried to stay dry (and warm).

BERRY FANTASTIC!

I even let Ryan have one of my strawberries for the photo opt
(he ate all of his on the walk over) - now THAT is love!

While we were waiting I saw this HUGE bug thing walking down the street. Well, you know me and my character stops.... I ran out of the beer garden (thankfully I took my ID with me or they wouldn't have let me back in) and found "Teddy The Termite" waddling down the road! WHAT THE CRAP?! He might have been a bit scary...

Excuse the crazy face... The man taking the picture wasn't sure
about how to take it, but I think it works perfectly with the bug!

They finally started pouring beer so Ryan got his two and enjoyed them thoroughly! He really appreciated the larger variety of breweries (we have TONS around us, so love that they are supporting local!). If the weather was nicer we would have hung out and listened to the bands that were going to play.

Booze Brothers sticker!

Belching Beaver

Ryan runs for beer!

The crowd hadn't gathered yet... I think mostly because no
one knew how to get there... Or maybe because it was 8:30am :)

On the way out we watched the Kid's 1-mile race. Man those kids are speedy. I love that the wee-ones are getting involved (and enjoying themselves!). Maybe one day I will grow up to be quick like them :)

This boy was rockin' denim and still FLYING!

#RunLikeAGirl

Overall Ryan and I did great! He felt strong the whole race and we walked away with another race under our belt! Official results are below (but the overall pace is figured based on our chip times and 6.7 miles instead of the standard 6.2 of a 10K).

I wasn't lying about the hills ;)

You can see the big hill came during mile 3 ;)

Oh yeah, and our goodie bags... They really jammed them full this year. We even got full size KIND bars and a bag of gluten free "chips". I'm a little sad that the shirts aren't tech-tees this year (they have been for the last two year... you can even see Ryan wore his from last year for this race), but mine normally goes into my "to be made into a quilt" pile anyway so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

All-in-all, I really enjoy this race. The hill of the 10K (it isn't on the 5K course in case you would prefer to opt out of the challenge) adds a little extra difficulty, but I enjoy it (makes me feel stronger knowing I can ROCK it!). Next year I might try and race this one (since this year my normal 10K time would have gotten me second in my division, although who knows what next year will hold), but I love that it is local and welcoming to everyone!